ZERO DAY

Chapter 6

You and Cyan sit in silence as Xeno steps into his flight suit.
“Well I guess this is it."
You shake your head in disbelief
"There has to be another way, I mean- “
He cuts you off
“Thank you for all your help guys.
I’ll need you to stay here in the control room until I make contact."
He reaches in and gives you both a hug.
“Say a Prayer.”

He snaps his helmet shut.
There’s an explosion in the distance.
“It’s starting to break apart!” Xeno shouts “This is it!”
He exits the control room, running toward the Silo. 

Cyan sits down beside you.
You watch on the monitor as he boards.
“Here we go.”

It’s hard to tell if the sun is up or not now.
MEGA is moments away from entering earth’s atmosphere.
You can see small pieces falling off and burning up before they hit.
Without warning you hear a voice begin to countdown from 20.
“Oh shit.”
５
４
３
２
１
“Liftoff!"

The control room window is completely blackened by thick smoke.
The monitors show a clear view.
You watch in amazement as it ascends.
It’s close enough that you can still read the giant CERULEAN scrawled on the side.
Cyan checks the targeting system again.
“Still offline. Approximately 2 minutes to impact.”

"MEGA is entering earth’s atmosphere!” Cyan exclaims

You’ve never seen something so immense.
So frightening yet so beautiful.


The silo is perfectly aligned.
Xeno’s a pro pilot.
And a real hero.

Cyan grabs on to your arm, almost cutting off the circulation.
“10 SECONDS TO IMPACT.”

Suddenly everything goes blank.
First chaos
Then flames
Then smoke.
Then you hear the sound of Cyan's voice.

You’re ok.

You both make a run for the door.
Eventually reaching a wheat field a safe distance from the launch pad.

Out of breath, you both collapse in the grass.
The sky ignites as millions of tiny fragments
burn up simultaneously in glorious hypercolor.
It’s mesmerizing.
Unlike anything you've ever witnessed.

"He did it."
You say laughing through tears.
"Wow."
"The crazy bastard. He really did it."

A dawn chorus rings out in the distance.
“Thank you.”

The remaining dust from MEGA has turned the sky a radiant pink.

You look up. 

“Am I dreaming or did that really just happen?"